Grants awarded by Cherokee Preservation Foundation

The Cherokee Preservation Foundation has awarded 24 new grants totaling $1.8 million that support cultural preservation, economic development, job creation and environmental preservation.

They include:

• A grant to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Emissaries of Peace, host the Southeast Tribes Festival and continue the Snowbird Cherokee language camp.

• A grant to Tribal Government to buy five fuel-efficient vehicles, two rainwater cisters and to retrofit 10 buildings for energy conservation. Money was also provided to complete solar thermal installation on an 11th tribal building, the Ginger Lynn Welch facility.

• A grant that will enable the new Cherokee Children’s Home to include a number of green components, including geothermal heating and cooling, solar heated water, rainwater harvesting and a solar photovoltaic system to generation electricity.

• A grant that will enable Swain County Schools to develop a science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum that will emphasize digital and financial literacy, business planning, best practices in environmental responsibility and economic development, real world experiences and academic achievement. It will be used by students at Cherokee Central Schools and in Swain, Jackson, Haywood, Clay, Graham and Cherokee counties.

• Grants to support the Cherokee Youth Council in promoting leadership development opportunities and to establish youth councils in Clay and Cherokee counties that are modeled after the Cherokee Youth Council.

• A grant that will enable the Oconaluftee Institute of Cultural Arts to offer a summer art program for high schools students.

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The Naturalist's Corner

I had originally intended to spend today (Monday, Feb. 16) doing a couple of short surveys for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. But Sunday morning amid more and more (and more and more dire) weather forecasts warning of some pretty heavy winter weather coming our way I began to contemplate counting Sunday instead. Around 9 a.m. Sunday I peeked out the downstairs window. Well, in my yard were 17 wild turkeys. It looked like a large group of jakes and gobblers.